The Return
by shanejayell
Summary: Kathryn Janeway has been taken by the Q. But why? Also, Returning Tide featuring Captain Eden.
1. Captain Janeway

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Star Trek Voyager, I'm just borrowing them for awhile. This story has spoilers for the novels Watching the Clock by Christopher Bennett, Star Trek Destiny by David Mack and the novel Before Dishonor by Peter David.

Star Trek Voyager: The Return

Kathryn Janeway's reddish brown hair fell into her eyes as she invisibly watched a confrontation between members of the Department of Temporal Investigation and their associates from the future. She had always wondered why the DTI had never acted against her after her many breeches of the Temporal Prime Directive, but it seemed their were future issues involved.

Using the powers of the Q that Kathryn now had let her know who these people were. Daniels, who was a time traveler who had interacted with the NX version Enterprise, Jena Noi who had worked with the DTI in the past, and Juel Ducane, who represented a uptime group that Kathryn herself had tangled with.

The time travelers not only refused to 'fix' the changes to history Kathryn had made, but they also refused to allow her to be punished. In fact Ducane even threatened the members of the DTI if they so much as attempted to go after her.

Janeway actually felt a pang of sympathy as Lucsly resigned from the DTI in protest, tossing his temporal tricorder and secure padd at his employer's feet and demanding to be removed from the DTI vault "I feel sorry for him," Kathryn noted quietly.

Lady Q heard it, of course, the other woman looking over at her curiously. "Why?" she asked Kathryn pointedly, "He was asking for the future agents to change your history. I think you'd be glad to see such a man fall."

Kathryn shook her head as they followed Lucsly to his apartment, and later seeing him trying to drink his sorrows away in a bar. "He thought the people of the future were like him, committed to maintaining the one, true time-line," she noted sadly, "instead he found out that they were as self serving as anyone."

"I suppose," Lady Q conceded. She sniffed as she added, "You humanoid lifeforms are so dramatic at times."

They watched Dulmur track his partner down, the younger man settling in beside Lucsly in the bar and talking. He got through to Lucsly eventually, helping remind him of the good they did, and Kathryn smiled faintly as she watched them leave together.

"Well, at least that turned out well," Kathryn decided, then used the Q power to whisk them away once more.

"Well, now you know why Starfleet didn't lock you up and throw away the key when you got back," Lady Q said briskly, "what else do you want to ask?"

Kathryn and Lady Q stood in the surreal, or possibly super-real, world of the Continuum. The 'road' stretched from horizon to horizon, while the shop, scarecrow and magazine were all the same. Yet with the perceptions of a Q she was depth she never knew existed, complexities in this seemingly simple realm that boggled the mind.

(At this point, Kathryn had no idea how long she had spent in the Continuum. There seemed to be no passage of time, no day or night. She herself found herself not getting tired or hungry at all. So far her only sustenance had been the occasional cup of coffee, drank out of habit more than any need.)

"There was something I wondered," Kathryn conceded as they walked along the dusty road, both dressed in Starfleet uniforms now, red for command but without rank pins.

"You always wonder about something," Lady Q noted with a faint smile, "I think it's part of your charm."

Kathryn ignored the attempt to be charming, instead asking, "Why did the Q abduct me?"

"I thought we were rescuing you?" Lady Q said dryly.

Kathryn faced her, bracing herself for who knew what. "Rescuing me would have involved dropping me off on the nearest federation ship," Kathryn said firmly, "no, you took me away and kept me. I want to know why."

"You do, do you?" Lady Q mused to herself, studying Kathryn thoughtfully. "And what if it's something you don't want to hear?"

"Even if it's horrible, I still want to know," Kathryn insisted.

"Oh really?" Lady Q gave a very unpleasant smile and snapped her fingers.

They reappeared floating above a planet, a world that had been devestated. Ugly glowing green scars had been torn into the planet's crust, while toxic gasses filled the air. There were still cities burning down there, and if there were any survivors they were in some kind of hell.

"Where are we?" Kathryn demanded, gazing in horror at the world bellow them.

"Earth, where we put you right back after I grabbed you from the Borg super-cube," Lady Q said to her smugly.

"It can't be," Kathryn started, when the turning of the Earth brought North America into view. The continent had been blasted but the shape was still recognizable, even from orbit. She took a moment to digest the destruction, cities left glowing craters and where Starfleet Headquarters was had been completely reduced to nothing.

"The Borg Queen certainly hated Starfleet with a passion," Lady Q noted calmly.

"I don't understand, the Borg were stopped before reaching Earth by the Caeliar," Kathryn looked at Lady Q, "how could my presence change that?"

Lady Q snapped her fingers again, and Kathryn felt them shift in time and space. She saw a version of herself being escorted by Seven, the blond woman looking at her in concern as they entered Starfleet Headquarters. Another shift, and they appeared in a conference room where the alternate Kathryn was arguing with other admirals.

"In this worldline," Lady Q said calmly, "your experience with the Borg encouraged an idea you had already had, to better prepare for the return of the Borg."

"A supply of transphasic torpedoes on all ships, shied and phaser frequency randomizers," Kathryn murmured almost to herself.

"And other innovations," Lady Q agreed as they watched the other Kathryn wearing the admirals down, "some inspired by Project Full Circle and technologies Voyager brought back from the Delta Quadrant. It's hard to estimate how much difference it made, but I suspect overall effectiveness went up by at least thirty percent."

Lady Q snapped her fingers again, and the scene changed. A single Borg cube ship coasted into Federation territory, as did several others along the border. They were part of a initial probe sent by the Queen, to determine the current level of threat.

Various classes of Starfleet vessels raced to respond, including Soverigns, Galaxys and Sabre, and with the weapon upgrades and a supply of transphasic torpedoes they made short work of the cubes. It was a shocking victory for the Federation, and a simple shock to the Borg Queen.

"The Borg Queen never expected her Cubes to be destroyed," Lady Q noted flatly, "she was the closest to frightened she has been in centuries. So she stepped up the schedule for her invasion."

The scene changed again, this time to the Azure Nebula where conduits existed into the Delta Quadrant. From out of the churning gasses Cube after Cube poured out, five, ten, fifty then over a hundred, all bound for Federation space. There was no time to organize defensive lines or plead for aid, the Cubes attacked swiftly and without mercy.

Kathryn watched the spreading swath of destruction in dull shock. The early Earth colonies, Vulcan, Mars then finally the Cubes swept towards Earth, destroying everything in their path. Finally they swept across the world, killing and destroying with horrifying intensity, only stopping when something drew them away.

"The Enterprise and Titan along with the Aventine still made contact with the Caeliar in this timeline," Lady Q narrated even as they shifted views again, back to the enclosed world of the Caeliar, "and they, along with Erika Hernandez, finally convince the Caeliar to act and stop the Borg once and for all. However, at this point it's too late for the Federation."

"Things get worse?" Kathryn demanded.

"Despite the defeat of the Borg the Federation was in ruins," Lady Q shrugged. "Several races with territorial ambitions invaded, fighting each other and surviving Starfleet ships trying to hold things together. By the end of the decade, the Federation effectively ceases to exist."

There was another flash of light, and Kathryn found herself once again back in the Continuum, and free of that terrible possible world. She slumped in relief, even though she knew that world was just a possibility rather than what had happened.

"So that's why I'm still here," Kathryn sighed, looking at Lady Q thoughtfully. "You saved the Federation," she noted thoughtfully, "I didn't know you cared."

"Oh, we don't Kathy," Lady Q said cheerfully, "but the Federation is so interesting to play with. The Borg and Caeliar are boring, and don't get me started on the Klingons or the Romulans."

"Heh," Katheryn smiled, suspecting there was more to this than what Lady Q was saying. Still, it was a question to ask another day, and there were more important things to consider. "Can I ever go home?" she asked curiously.

Lady Q actually looked amused as she said, "What, you don't like the Continuum?"

"It's interesting," Kathryn said patiently, "but it's not my home."

With a slight nod Lady Q acknowledged that point. "The Q have been debating what to do with you, actually," she admitted. "Some Q want to punish you for playing a role in the beginning of the Q civil war."

"That was Quinn's doing," Kathryn protested.

"You and I know that, but the rest of the Continuum doesn't care," Lady Q said. "And there's all the trouble you human's have caused in general..."

Kathryn realized that Lady Q was just teasing, and shut her mouth even as she considered the realm around them. Even with the borrowed perceptions of a Q this place was boring, even with all the complexities hidden beneath it's surface. If she remained here long enough, she could easily imagine taking the road Quinn had.

Lady Q tilted her head as she announced, "Ah, a decision has been reached. She frowned, "It seems you're going to be punished."

"Punished?" Kathryn started, just as a burst of light surrounded her.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Captain Sonya Gomez of the Saber class Da Vinci frowned as they and several other Starfleet Corps of Engineers ships surveyed the Borg rubble currently occupying the orbit of Pluto. The super-cube had consumed Pluto in it's attack, and after it was destroyed by the Planet Killer and the Enterprise the debris had been towed out here. Now there was a plan being considered to attempt to rebuild Pluto, and it fell to the SCE to see if it could be made to work.

Tev frowned as the Tellarite surveyed the rubble. "There are far more urgent jobs awaiting us," the Commander said gruffly.

"Earth asked us to do this," Sonya shrugged. She looked over at tactical, "Is it confirmed the rubble is neutralized?"

Dom 'Core Breech' Corsi nodded as the woman double checked on scanners. "It's clear, though I suggest going in with shields up just in case," she advised.

"As usual," Sonya agreed, just as a burst of white light appeared in the middle of the bridge!

"Intruder!" Corsi barked even as Lt Wong jumped out of his seat at the helm and leveled his phaser at the stranger, only to freeze in shock.

"It can't be," Wong lowered the phaser, then blushed as he realized the woman was nude.

"Admiral Janeway?" Sonya gulped, getting up and walking to her side.

'I guess my punishment is to be a mere human again,' Kathryn thought wryly. "I take it I'm on a Starfleet ship?" she asked as the bubble of astonished conversation washed over her. As everyone babbled happily she smiled and thought, 'It's good to be back.'

End

Notes: In the novel Before Dishonor the Q act quite out of character. They try to warn off Kathryn, yet do nothing to save her from being assimilated by the cube. Then when the cube is destroyed they spirit Kathryn away, without explaining why. So after thinking about it I wondered if there was a good reason they were keeping Kathryn from being involved with the events leading up to Star Trek Destiny?

The first section is based on Watching the Clock by Christopher Bennett, and the characters in the last segment are from Starfleet Corps of Engineers, created by Keith R.A. DeCandido and John Ordover.


	2. Captain Eden

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Star Trek Voyager, and am only borrowing them. Don't sue me, I'm broke anyway. This story has SPOILERS for the recent novel The Eternal Tide by Kirsten Beyer, and is in effect a unofficial continuation.

The Returning Tide: The Continuation of Captain Eden.

The younger Q and Captain Afsarah Eden, the embodiment of the O Continuum and sworn enemy f the Q, combined their power on the battle bridge of Voyager. They saw Captain Janeway flinch from the sudden display of power, then both disappeared from the confined space.

A thought sent Q and Eden hurtling towards the rift where the O Continuum was breaking through to reality, possibly dooming the universe. As they entered the rift Q diverted a moment, rescuing Captain Chakotay from his shuttle then sending him back to Voyager.

"Thank you," Eden said, having gotten to like the man when they served together.

"No problem," Q shrugged, "he didn't deserve this."

Within the O Continuum, both beings reached out with their powers to feel the other rifts between the continuum and the universe. Other than the big 'rip' in the Delta Quadrant there were small tears all across the galaxy... and even far beyond it. Combining their powers it was easy to close the smaller ones, 'knitting' reality back together.

Guiltily Eden plucked her uncle Tallar from the continuum and returned him to Jobin's side. The men who had raised her deserved better too, she only wished the other human who had been trapped here were still around to be saved.

Q nodded approvingly, then the two set to work closing the last rift. The act would probably destroy them both, but it would save the universe and the lives of people they loved. In their minds, it was worth it.

As the final rift near closed both Eden and Q cried out as a force yanked on them powerfully. "What's happening?" Q demanded.

"I don't know, I...," Eden started, then in a final burst of power they were gone.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Amanda Rogers, formerly human and now a Q, was trying to figure out why she wasn't dead. She, along with Q, had been investigating why his future appeared to.. well, END. Just about now, actually. Anyway, they had found various clues, and she had foolishly decided to investigate one on her own.

Amanda had trusted her Q born omnipotence to protect her, but... something happened when she contacted the void. Now she found herself floating in the void of space, and she felt very certain she had lost some time.

As Amanda tried to get her bearings she 'felt' the cries of someone in distress, and nearby. A normal Q might have ignored it, but Amanda was still human enough to wonder what was going on, so she teleported over for a closer look. She was astonished to see the young Q and a human female, both apparently dying of decompression.

Grabbing both Amanda transported them all to the nearest Earth-like world, using her powers to heal both, though why Q was hurt was perplexing. She waited impatiently for both to recover then demanded, "What's going on?"

"No idea," the woman admitted. She was actually taller than Amanda, and dark as Amanda was pale. She looked at Q, "Q?"

"Not sure," the young man admitted. He looked at Amanda, then with a sigh summarized what they had learned and done.

"Wow," Amanda conceded as she digested what she had been told. "So when I tried to use my powers on the O continuum, it yanked me in and temporarily erased me, somehow. But why are we all back?"

"Well, the O continuum was destabilized by foreign matter," Eden offered after a moment, "it could be it... ejected us, after we fixed it. I mean, I'm part human and Q is whatever you are. We didn't belong in there so it spat us out."

"So what happened to my powers?" the younger Q demanded.

"You still FEEL like a Q to me," Amanda said after studying him, "could be you burnt out your powers for while."

Q had the oddest expression on his face, a mix of fear and wonder. "So the reason I couldn't see my future was because I lost my powers?" he mused. A broad grin split his face. "Ya HOO!"

"Think he's okay?" Eden asked curiously.

"Give him a minute," Amanda said fondly.

"I'm ALIVE! I'm going to stay alive! You have no idea how much of a relief this is," Q cheered as he capered around.

"I can sympathize," Eden agreed, knowing the relief of no longer being the avatar of a destructive force and having a free destiny once more.

"You're alive and loud," an amused woman noted.

Eden turned to look and instantly recognized the woman from Voyager's files. "You're Kes?" she asked, faintly awed.

As Q looked at her curiously Amanda shrugged. "This was the first habitable world I thought of," she said simply.

"We need to get Eden home, then let my parents know we're alive..." Q mused even as he watched Kes introduce herself to Eden. There were a lot of things to do and he was again overjoyed to know he had all the time he needed to do them.

End

Notes: To be honest I found the deaths of Captain Eden, Q and Amanda pretty damn pointless, so after some thought I came up with a fix. I THINK this makes sense in the context of the book.


End file.
